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W. H. THURMOND.

' GAR GOUPLING.

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VILLIAM H. THURMOND, OF FORSYTH, GEORGIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'r Patent No. 313,386, dated March3; 1885. Application filed December 13, i884. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. THUR- MOND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Forsyth,in the county of Monroe and State ofGeorgia, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements inCar-Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersor iigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.l

This invention relates to that class of carcouplers in which thecoupling is effected by laterally-movable interlocking jaws; and myinvention has for its object to simplify the' construction of thecoupling and render its function more efficient and reliable.

The further object of the invention is to provide a means whereby thecoupling of carswhen on a curve may be automatically effected withoutliability of an accidental uncoupling.

The invention consists, essentially, in the peculiar construction of thecoupling-jaw and coupling-bolt, whereby the above-recited results areobtained, as hereinafter fully described, and as shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of adjacentcouplers in the position when coupled. Fig. 2 is a like view, partly insection, of one of the couplers, showing the position the coupling-j awassumes relatively to the coupling-bolt when the coupling is effectedwhen the cars are on a curve. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectionof one of the couplers, showing the relative position of the couplingbar and jaw when two cars are coupled while on a straight portion of thetrack. Fig. 4 is a like view, showing the relative position of thecoupling bar and jaw when the coupling of two cars is effccted whilesaid cars stand on a curve. Fig. 5 is a like view, showing the couplerwith the parts in position for coupling. Figs. 6 and 6n are perspectiveviews of the coupling-jaw, and Figs. 7 and 7 are like views ofthecoupling-bar. p

Like letters of reference indicate like parts 5o in the several figuresof the drawings.

A indicates the draw-bar, and B the drawhead, which in practice arepreferably formed of one piece. The draw-head B is of appropriate formto support a pivoted couplingjaw, C, receive a like jaw of the coupleron the car to be coupled thereto,and to auto matically lock said jawsinto position as they engage each other.

On the draw-head B are formed twolugs or ears, b, and a verticalshoulder, b', extending from one lug to the other. The said lugs areperforated and serve as bearings for a pivotpin, P, upon which thecoupling-jaw Gis pivoted, and the shoulder serves to limit theoutwardmovement of the jaw. The draw-head B is cored or hollowed out, so as toallow the coupling-jaw C to assume proper position in coupling oruncoupling, and in said cored portion is formed a vertical recess, b2,on a line at right angles to the horizontal axis of the draw-bar anddraw-head, in which recess b2 operates the coupling bolt or pin D. .Thecoupling-jaw C has the general form illustrated in Fig. 6. rPhe sharpedge of the shank c of the jaw, formed at its rear end by theintersection of the curved portion of its outer vertical face with therectilinear inner vertical face, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6,) iscut away to form a rearwardlyinclined vertical surface, c', at the upperend of which is formed a recess, whereby a seat, c2, is provided for thecoupling-bolt, for purposes presently explained.

In the upper and lower portion of the drawhead B are formed rectangularopenings b3, the rear faces of which are on a line with the face of therecess b2, in which latter and said opening operates the coupling boltor pin D. The `coupling-bolt D acts by gravity, and has in its upper enda transverse slot, d, through which passes a pin, E, securedv to aflange, b4, that projects from the upper face of the drawhead andsurrounds the opening b3 in said upper face. A like flange projects fromthe under side of said draw-head and surrounds the corresponding openingtherein. The pin E serves to limit the vertical movements of. thecoupling-bolt. At its lower end the bolt Dis cut away to form ashoulder, cl, on its front face, and the lower rear edge of said bolt isroo beveled to form an inclined face, d2, at that point.

At a suitable distance above the shoulder d is formed a shoulder, d3,the face of which inclines in the direction of .inward rotation of theshank c of the coupling-jaw C. The front vertical edge of thecoupling-bolt is beveled off from the lowest point of the incline d3 tothe notch d', to form aforwardly-inclined vertical face, dt, as plainlyshown in Fig. 7.

The operation of this coupling is as follows: Assumingtwo cars to becoupled, as shown by the couplers in Fig. 1, the uncoupling is effectedby turning the crank-shaftf of the gravity-lever F, pivoted to the underside of the draw-bar A, so as to lift the said lever, the shaft of whichis or may be extended from opposite sides of the lever to a point withineasy reach without going between the cars for manipulating the same. Asshown in the drawings, the lever is a bent lever, the bent portion j'having its nose beveled olf, as at f2, and the position of the leverrelativelyfto the opening b3 in the lower portion of the drawhead issuch that the front beveled edge, f2, of said bent portion f of lever Fwill penetrate into said opening b3, as shown in dotted lines, Figs. 4and 5, and inipinge upon the rearbeveled edge, d2, at the lower end ofthe couplingbolt D. The action of the inclined or beveled faces f2 d2upon each other being in a direction the reverse of that in which theyexert their power, and inasmuch as the resistance of the bolt D isleast, the power exerted by the lever F will lift said bolt. The bentarm f of lever F is of such a length as to lift the bolt sufficiently tobring the shoulder d', formed across its face at its lower extremity,slightly above the surface of the lower horizontal face of the cavity inthe draw-head, or above the face of a recess, b5, formed in saidlowerhorizontal face of the cavity; or, in other words, the length ofthe lever-arm f is such as to lift the shoulder d* clear of the openingb3 in the lower portion of the draw-head. When so lifted, the bevelededge of the lever-arm will throw the lower end of the bolt D forward, sothat its shoulder d will be seated upon the upper forward edge of theopening b3 and be held in that position. The lever F, being thenreleased, will fall back into its normal position by gravity. Vhen thecoupling-bolt is in the described position, the lower corner of theinclined shoulder d3 is clear of the rear end ofthe shank c of thecoupling-j aw C, which latter is then free to rotate on its pivot, andas the coupling-j aw of the adjacent car moves out of the draw-head theuncoupled jaw is rotated on its pivot, the inclined face c3, slidingover the corresponding inclined face d* ofthe couplingbolt D, forces thelatter olf its seat, and said bolt will fall down into its normalposition. The parts are now in the position shown in Fig. 5 and readyfor coupling, which is effected automatically. Vhen the coupling-jaw ofone car enters the draw-head of another car the coupling-jaw of which isin the position shown in Fig. 5, tbe'entering jaw will bear upon theshank of the set-jaw and cause it to rotate on its pivot and engage saidentering j jaw.- At the Ysame time the rotating shank engages theinclined face of the shoulder cl3 of the. coupling-bolt D and lifts thesame until the said shank has passed clear of the bolt,

when the latter will drop down, its side face above the inclinedshoulder da lying in front of the inner vertical face of the shank c ofthe jaw C, thus locking said jaw securely in position.

It will be observed that no strain is exerted observed that the powerexerted by the shank' of the jaw upon the bolt is in a lateraldirection, and as said bolt lies within a recess formed in the rearportion of the draw-head there is a solid bearing-surface provided alongits entire length, consequently a comparatively light bolt may beemployed, since it has no strain whatever to bear, all the strain beingsupported by the draw-head itself.

When two cars to be coupled stand on a curve, the axial lines of theircouplers will be at a greater or less angle to each other, according tothe radius of the curve, and when the coupling-jaw of one coupler entersthe drawhead of another there is danger that the shank of thecoupling-jaw of the latter draw-head will not be acted on suificientlyby the entering jaw to carry said shank clear of the couplingbolt, so asto enable the latter to drop down and lock the jaw. To avoid this I formthe recess above referred to in the rear end of the jaw-shank, and saidrecess is of such a depth that its upper face or seat, c", will be atsuch an elevation that the least partial rotation that can be impartedto the shank by the entering jaw will lift the bolt clear of the seat c,into which said bolt D will drop, thus locking the jaw securely inposition. As soon as the cars again enter upon a straight portion of the,track-that is to say, as soon as the axes of the couplers again come tolie in or approximately in the same plane*the shank of the jaw movesfully back out of the way of the coupling-bolt, which latter is thenfree to drop down into the position above described. Inasrnuch as thecoupling-bolt is lifted high enough by the lever F so that its inclinedshoulder will clear lthe upper face of the shank of the jaw, it will beevident that when the cars are coupled While on a curve they may also beuncoupled while on said curve.

If desired, the notch that forms the seat c' in the upper portion of therear end of the shank c of the coupling-jaw C may be dispensed with, asshown in Fig. 6, and the coupling-bolt D provided with a shoulder orseat, d5, Fig. 7 on `the edge that faces the said jaw-shank, whereby thecoupling may be effectedon a curve in a manner similar to that abovedescribed. v f A In order to adapt the coupling for use with an ordinarylink-and-piu coupling, the coupling-jaw C has a recess, C', for thepassage of the link, and suitable holes, cx, in proper register withsaid recess, for the reception of the coupling-pin.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a car-couplerof the class described, the combination, with a vertically-movablecoupling-bolt provided with a projecting shoulder at a pointintermediate of its extremities, of a horizontally-movable coupling-jawprovided with a seat, 0*, in its shank, for the purpose specied.

2. In a car-coupler of the class described, the combination, with thedraw-head having openings b3, and a vertically-movable couplingboltextendinginto said openings and provided with a shoulder, d', at itslower end, of an actuating-lever adapted to lift the bolt clear of oneofthe openings and move it forward,with its shoulder resting on the edgethereof, and a horizontally-oscillating locking-jaw adapted to moveclear of the coupling-bolt when it is in the position specified,simultaneously therewith move said bolt rearwardly, and cause it to dropback into the position from which it has been moved by the lever, asdescribed.

3. The combination, substantially as herein described, with thedraw-head,the horizontally-oscillating coupling-j aw provided with theinclined surface o', and the vertically-movable gravity-bolt providedwith the beveled surface d2 and shoulder d', of the gravity-lever F, thearm fof which has a correspondingly-beveled face, f2, for the purposespecied.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. THURMON D.

Witnesses:

EMMA lVI. GILLETT, W. E. BoULrER.

